LeMayZing! Cars, Collecting, History, and Culture with Eric LeMay

WFFMM Belgian delegate Sebastien de Baere joins Eric & Todd in this short episode for a subdued discussion from a cigar bar in Nagoya. Autoworld traces its roots to the earliest days of motoring. Their venue hosted one of the first auto shows in 1902 and features a wide variety of cars, particularly Belgian brands like Minerva, a favorite brand of Belgian royalty. Sebastien also shares his experiences of the ups and downs of the car museum business.

As we near the end of the 2024 World Forum for Motoring Museums in Toyota City, Japan, Eric and Todd talk to Scott George from the Revs Institute in Naples, Florida, who hosted the 2022 "joint conference" of the World Forum and the National Association of Automobile Museums (NAAM). Scott tells us of the incredible Miles Collier Collection and Rev's important work around preserving automotive history by building an archive of over 700,000 photos, publications and historical items. Plus, they will soon be opening an automotive archive center in nearby Fort Myers. (Eric's Note: I love everything about how this is about the nerdy part of museums. And Why they exist. And how they exist. Scott is awesome, and I loved picking his brain and having it recorded.)

We continue our march through Japan as we chat with World Forum delegate Jon Murden, the Chief Executive at the National Motor Museum Trust in Hampshire, UK, more commonly known as "Beaulieu" (pronounced 'beu-lee."). Jon tells us of his childhood infatuation with the collection at Beaulieu, which he now leads in the footsteps of Edward Lord Montagu (Edward John Barrington Douglas-Scott-Montagu, 3rd Baron Montagu of Beaulieu) and Michael Ware, two legends of the British motor museum, which started with five cars in the foyer of Lord Montagu's home. Also, hear Jon's biggest surprises about Japan.

In this episode from Top Gun Bar & Grill in Puyallup, WA, Eric & Todd discuss their temporary venue nestled next to Thun Field Airport where you can see all kinds of interesting vintage aircraft and they reflect on how spoiled they felt eating Japanese cuisine and how returning to US cuisine was a bit of a let-down.

We are pausing our Japan episodes to celebrate Christmas and family. In this episode, borrowing a title from the John Mortimer play, we spend some time with Todd's Dad, Gene. Gene tells so many fun stories about family car trips and the cars they owned during memorable times in their lives. Having just celebrated his 90th birthday, he recalls having to referee fights between his twin brothers in the back seat of his father's 1941 Buick; his first car, a 1947 Pontiac; and his life during his surgical residency in Philadelphia in the early 1960's, a trip he took from Oregon on US 30 in his 1954 Buick three days after his wedding to Todd's mom. Also, hear the family legend of a 1957 Cadillac traded for two Buicks! So many fun family memories!

A true "car fan" episode…Eric and Todd set up shop at a very plush pub-style establishment in the Nagoya Marriott and run a "gemba" assembly line of guests. In this wide-ranging interview, two of the British delegates to the World Forum for Motor Museums, Jim Mcclean from Motor Hub Warwick and Keith Benjamin from the Jaguar Heritage Trust discuss the pride the people of Japan have in their car culture, their philosophy of car manufacturing and a debate of car songs versus the "experience" of cars in music.

When Eric and Todd arrive in Nagoya for the conference, Eric is curious about Todd's impressions of Japan since Todd isn't known as an "experienced world traveler." They offer some interesting insight on the graciousness of the Japanese people and the incredible lack of public garbage cans and benches…and how completely exhausted they are! Plus, Todd confesses his love of performing Johnny Cash karaoke and his less-than-stellar performance of "Folsom Prison Blues" on the tour bus microphone.

As Eric and Todd continue their whirlwind tour of Japan on their way to the World Forum for Motor Museums, we talk to collection archivist Jack Wiegman about a Southern California private collector during the Shinkansen trip from Hiroshima to Nagoya, making this their FASTEST episode! Listen how one organization is moving from a very private collection towards a museum model; his particular interest in 1970's concept cars; and how Jack's interest in art AND cars led him to the collection; plus bonus descriptions of sweet Japanese treats! (Hang on for this one…a fair amount of background noise, but a great interview! You can also hear the unique music that accompanies each train station as we pull into Kyoto.)

Join two very tired hosts, Eric & Todd, as they continue their journey across Japan on their way to World Forum for Motor Museums. In this episode, recorded late at night after a huge day of travel, they reflect on their first journey on Japan's Shinkansen (known as the 'bullet train') from Yokohama to Hiroshima, a distance of about 500 miles, which they traveled in a little over three hours. They also share their struggles trying to understand their Japanese guides and laugh about a major snafu with Todd's train ticket, which he needed to board the train. (Completely Todd's error, by the way!)

As delegates to the World Forum for Motor Museums begin gathering in Tokyo, Eric and Todd start visiting with other delegates. In a Tokyo coffee shop, Eric & Todd interview their friend Darren Cunningham, the director of the Isle of Man Motoring Museum. Darren talks about life on the Isle of Man, the incredible transportation collection he manages ("anything with a motor"), and we deep dive into the famous Isle of Man TT (Tourist Trophy) motorcycle race, held nearly annually since 1907, a deadly competition that could be held almost no place else in the world. Visit the Isle of Man Motor Museum at https://www.visitisleofman.com/experience/isle-of-man-motor-museum-p1291951